An exquisite September wedding at the Topnotch Resort in Stowe, VT where East Coast Soul's King ensemble had a kickass night of music!
East Coast Soul was grateful to be asked to join Ellen & Peter for their stunning Topnotch Resort Wedding in Stowe, VT.
Preprations for Ellen & Peter's Big Day
Our planning for the wedding began well ahead, with Ellen & Peter expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the wedding (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Ellen & Peter were heavily involved in this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.
Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Stowe, VT and moved swiftly through our standard load-in, set up, and sound check process for Topnotch Resort weddings. Being prepared for load-in and set-up at any given venue is a critical part of our workflow. This is a part of the day that we take seriously, spending extra time to avoid rushing, and ensuring our gear is properly tuned for the room.
Ceremony
Part of our planning involves outlining exactly what portions of the wedding East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Ellen & Peter were also interested in East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Ellen & Peter 's ceremony . East Coast Soul prepared a a Solo Piano performance and Single Mic for speeches. Following East Coast Soul providing roughly 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests arrived, the ceremony took place.
Cocktail Hour
As is often the case, East Coast Soul was requested to perform cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a great opportunity for the bride and groom to unwind after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a blend of relaxed music for guests to listend to. In this case, We provided a Playback and and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.
Reception
In a lion's share of weddings, we is asked to take care of MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Topnotch Resort Wedding was no different. However, there were in fact no formal intros for this wedding.
The couple’s First Dance
With no introductions to take care of, we changed gears to into the couple’s first dance.
The couple's first dance is almost always one of the most emotional parts of the wedding. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this wedding in particular, we were asked to play the first dance number live, instead of performing it from a recording. With this portion of the wedding finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's King ensemble returned to the stage.
Parent Dances
In a majority of weddings, East Coast Soul is often requested to perform the couple's parent dances. This was a chance for the to join Ellen & Peter to share a brief moment in the middle of the dancefloor with their mother and father. For this wedding in particular, the bride and her father danced together. Peter and his mother danced together as well. Parent dances are an amazing way to start the main dance performance. We often ask guests to join the couple and their parents on the dance floor, and then move directly in to the rest of the performance.
Dance Party
our dance performances commonly kick off with vintage material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get folks up on the dance floor with songs they know and love. Artists like Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Earth Wind & Fire, and more dominated the outset of our performance. We then transitioned into playing tunes by artists like Whitney Houston, Prince, Michael Jackson and more. Finally, we ended the night performing contemporary material that everyone could sing along with.
Guests danced non-stop from beginning to end, and we limited our breaks to ensure people had as much time to dance as possible.
Thanks so much to Ellen & Peter for having us at their beautiful September wedding at Topnotch Resort! And thank you to Kelsey Regan for sharing these beautiful photos with us!
Ready to Learn More?
Planning a Wedding? Maybe at Topnotch Resort, perhaps in Stowe, VT? Either way, feel free to learn more, and let's connect!